


Any Way The Wind Blows

by Marblez



Category: Battlestar Galactica (1978), Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Attempted murder, M/M, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:22:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22036243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marblez/pseuds/Marblez
Summary: What if when the Fleet was accidently separated from the Galactica in S2E1 “Scattered” things hadn’t gone quite as smoothly as the show originally implied? This story follows the crew of the Talthybius, a former cruise ship, on the unexpectedly challenging day and the days that follow…
Relationships: Omega (BSG 1978)/Giles (BSG 1978)





	1. KOL

**DISCLAIMER –** I don’t own Battlestar Galactica, original series or the remake.

 **WARNINGS –** Canon-Typical-Violence, Language, Homophobia, Past-Murder-Attempt

 **SUMMARY –** What if when the Fleet was accidently separated from the Galactica in S2E1 “Scattered” things hadn’t gone quite as smoothly as the show originally implied? This story follows the crew of the Talthybius, a former cruise ship, on the unexpectedly challenging day and the days that follow…

 **A/N –** I’ve had this idea floating around in the back of my mind for years but kept putting it off…until my brain refused to let me get on with any of my other stories until I’d started it. What’s one more story on the go? *nervous laughter*

Hopefully by getting this out of my brain I can get back to work on some of my other works which are painfully overdue an update.

I’ve used some characters from the original 1978 series which didn’t make the cut for the 2003 reboot (which is why I've tagged the original series.)

Also for anyone who’s interested the title comes from the musical ‘Hadestown’ which I’ve completely fallen in love with recently and highly recommend.

**ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS**

**CHAPTER ONE – KOL**

“…where’s the _Galactica_?”

Kol Omega, XO of the _Colonial Cruise Ship (CCS) Talthybius_ , found himself unable to respond.

It wasn’t a question he’d ever expected to be asked, not with the current state of affairs regarding the possible extinction of the human race, and yet it was a perfectly valid one.

Before their latest jump to escape the Cylons attack at _Kobol_ the _Galactica_ had been just ahead of them in the Fleet as they orbited the legendary planet and had been perfectly visible through the wide view port which dominated the far wall of the _Talthybius’_ bridge.

It should have still been there following the emergency FTL jump only…it wasn’t...

Danny Guzman, the ships Commanding Officer who had been approaching retirement when the attacks happened, cleared his throat nervously before asking them to check the dradis.

A tense silence followed, broken at length by Beth Rigel,

“Nothing, sir. _Galactica_ isn’t showing on the screen. She’s…she’s _not there_ …”

Kol wasn’t the only one to curse under their breath upon hearing this.

They’d lost the one ship with any chance of defending them against an attack.

“Anyone else missing?”

Another pause, slightly longer as the poor young woman had to identify each ship by the codes displayed on the ancient equipment she was working with. _CCS Talthybius_ had the somewhat dubious honour of being the oldest ship in the Fleet, older than the _Galactica_ who had only survived the attack on the colonies because she was being decommissioned.

“No, sir,” she finally announced with relief. “All other ships are present and correct.”

“Good,” Danny sighed, wiping his hand down his face as some of the tension within the room was released. “The question now, of course, is what should our next move be?”

“Someone needs to assume command of the fleet,” Kol found himself announcing, settling into the parade rest stance he had always favoured. “Before people begin to panic. Sir.”

“…Rigel, get me _Colonial One.”_

“Yes, Sir.”

There was a lengthy exchange between the young woman and the communications officer aboard the other ship before a representative of the Quorum of Twelve came on the line.

“This is Commander Daniel Guzman of the _CCS Talthybius_. In the wake of the _Galactica’s_ absence I would like to propose that my ship to take temporary command of the Fleet.”

“And why should your ship be in charge, Commander Guzman?”

“My XO is a former Colonel of the Colonial Fleet and therefore has the training for scenarios such as this,” Danny explained. “And two-thirds of my ships crew are also ex-Colonial Fleet.”

“I see,” the unfamiliar voice responded slowly, soft voices conferring in the background before he spoke again, “Well, in the absence of the President and Vice-President we, the remaining members of the Quorum, thank you for your offer and agree with your plan.”

There was a pause and then,

“You have command of the Fleet, Commander Guzman.”

There was a pause follows the official statement and then the line went dead.

Danny exhaled loudly, the colour draining from his face as he turned to Kol and asked,

“How do we protect the Fleet without the _Galactica_?”

His mind began to race through possible scenarios in response, a frown settling on his forehead for all to see…and see they did, watching him with bated breath. They weren’t used to him hesitating, weren’t used to seeing him puzzled by something. He was the steadiest and most reliable member of the command team, his knowledge far surpassing everyone else’s when it came to the running of a ship be it civilian, military or otherwise.

At last his brain latched on to one option and, with no other choice, he ran with it.

“We need to close the gaps between the ships,” he announced firmly. “Make ourselves a smaller target on dradis whilst also reducing the area we need to protect. On that note I need my husband up here to take command of a patrol around the fleet. Any ships that have vessels capable to running a dradis scan need to get them into the air immediately.”

“Alright, but why?”

“We’ll send the patrols far enough out that they can remain in contact with the fleet and scan further afield to give us more warning should we need to jump to a new location,” Mol explained his reasoning calmly whilst people began putting his words into action around him. “We should keep all of the fleets FTL engines warmed up and primed just in case, too.”

“…thank the Gods the company hired you when you left the Colonial Fleet.”

Kol huffed out a brief laugh.

Thank the Gods, indeed…

**~ * ~**


	2. JACE

**CHAPTER TWO – JACE**

Being summoned to the bridge was never a good thing, Jace thought to himself as he hurried to traverse the large ship, but given the announcement he’d just heard being broadcast throughout the entire fleet he had a feeling this would be worse than usual.

**_“Attention. It is my difficult duty to inform you that during the last jump the Battlestar Galactica was separated from the rest of the Fleet. At this time we do not know the location of the ship or what occurred to cause this separation. Until such time as the Galactica returns Commander Guzman of the CCS Talthybius will be in charge of the Fleet. Please obey his orders as though they came from Commander Adama or the President.”_ **

He’d sincerely like to know the name of the idiot on the Galactica who couldn’t follow a simple flight plan because _seriously_ , how do you lose an entire ship? Or, rather, _the Fleet?_

Whoever it was needed to be demoted until they could be trusted not to screw up again.

Making his way up the final flight of stairs he emerged on the command level of the ship, the change palpable. Whereas most of the ship was designed to give the passengers a feeling of luxury and splendour the command level was completely utilitarian. Similarly the lower levels of the ship where he had just come from which were out of bounds to the passengers were painfully grey, the crew quarters all exactly the same size and layout.

Only the flight deck with their fleet of “runabouts” was different as passengers used to pass through regularly to attend excursions in said “runabouts” and as such it had been designed to function smoothly whilst looking sleek and stylish. The engineering level, located at the very bottom of the ship, was just as grey and utilitarian as the other crew levels only dirtier.

A _lot_ dirtier.

Stepping onto the bridge he scanned the room quickly, finding his husband on the raised level beside their CO, and headed across to join significantly taller partner. People liked to joke that he and Kol were as different as night and day and, honestly, he could understand.

Kol was taller than most of the men and women they’d served with, both in the Colonial Fleet and on the Tally, as most of the crew referred to the _Talthybius_. His hair was a rich brown colour, deliciously thick and when it grew long enough hung in gentle waves. It was actually his hair that had first drawn Jace’s attention, the pilot tortured with thoughts of running his fingers through the gorgeous locks for the duration of their initial meeting.

Jace, on the other hand, was shorter than almost everyone he’d ever served with. So short, in fact, that when they were both in their bare feet he didn’t reach his husbands shoulders.

His hair was light blonde, the colour of sand his grandmother had always said, and grew in tight curls which he’d allowed to grow out since leaving the Colonial Fleet. In fact it was so long now that he had to use a scrap of fabric to tie some of it back when he was doing any form of maintenance or spend the entire time pushing his hair out of his face with his arm.

Their eyes, although both being blue, were still noticeably different.

A pale blue, like the skies back home on _Aquarion_ , for Jace.

A deep blue, so dark it almost appeared black at times, for Kol.

“Someone gonna tell me what the frak is going on?” he called out by way of a greeting, his harsh _Aquarian_ accent cutting through the low-level murmurings of the busy bridge crew. Kol offered him a fond smile before his mask, the one Jace tended to refer to as his ‘ _I’m the boss and don’t you forget it_ ’ mask, settled back into place. “’Cause seriously; what the hell?”

“It’s quite simple, really; the _Galactica_ failed to make the last jump with the rest of the Fleet so we’ve been given command due to the number of former Colonial Fleet personnel on board,” Kol explained simply, gesturing to some of those individuals to get the point across. He saved gesturing between himself and his husband till last. “It was the most logical course of action to ensure that the Fleet didn’t devolve into chaos. Especially given the fact that the President was aboard the _Galactica_ at the time of the jump whilst the Vice-President, for some unknown reason, was sent along as part of the expedition to the surface of _Kobol_.”

“Right,” Jace muttered, blinking rapidly as his mind processed the reality of their situation. “Okay, so what’s the plan? I’m assuming there was a reason for calling me to the bridge?”

“I’ve ordered that the Fleet move in closer to one another…”

“Right, the smaller the blip on a dradis scanner, the better.”

“…and I’d like you to head up a patrol of all dradis capable runabouts and transport vessels so as to extend the range of the Fleets awareness,” Kol continued with his explanation. “So as to give us as much of a chance to jump to safety as possible should the Cylons find us.”

Jace heard what Kol wasn’t saying, of course; knew that the reality of the situation was that not all of them would make it back to their ships in time if the Fleet did need to jump away.

“Understood,” he murmured softly, reaching up to pull his husband down into a gentle kiss. Kol had never been a big one for public displays of affection, unlike Jace who loved nothing more than to display his love to the world, and that was a testament to their very different upbringings. This time, however, his husband put every bit as much feeling into the kiss as he did, dragging it out for as long as they possibly could. “I’ll see you when I get back, okay?”

“Yes,” Kol responded softly, his eyes glistening slightly as they parted. “I’ll see you then.”

“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone,” Jace offered, smiling as broadly as he could manage. No one called him out on the fact that it didn’t reach his eyes. “No heroics.”

His husband snorted loudly,

“Speak for yourself.”

Turning Jace retraced his steps, hurrying through the ship until he reached the flight deck where all of his pilots and their co-pilots/navigators were waiting somewhat anxiously.

Taking a deep breath he channel led every CAG he’d had during his career as he began,

“Right, this is the situation; the _Galactica_ is indeed missing so…”

**~ * ~**


	3. ALINA

**CHAPTER THREE – ALINA**

Nervous as she was Alina was grateful for the checklist that she had to work her way through before they could take off. It was the same checklist that they’d always used; nothing had changed even though it felt like everything had changed. She went through every action precisely, just as she’d been taught to when she’d volunteered to join the runabout crews after the attacks on the colonies, and as she worked the trembling in her hands began to lessen. It helped that Jace, her pilot and former instructor, seemed to be perfectly calm as he went through his own series of pre-flight checks in the seat beside her.

“All systems ready,” she reported at length, both to Jace and the flight officer monitoring them from the bridge. Jace gave her his usual thumbs. “Request permission to launch?”

“Granted,” the flight officer responded quickly. “Fly safe, _Runabout One.”_

Settling back into her seat she nodded at her pilot,

“Over to you, Jace.”

“Alrighty then,” he grunted, taking hold of the controls. “Let’s do this.”

No matter how many times they had launched since becoming the hospital ship of the fleet, effectively turning the runabouts into ambulances, it still made her gasp when they dropped out of the hangar door into the weightlessness of space. When the attacks on the Colonies had begun _Talthybius_ had been midway through a scientific cruise to _Aquaria_ in the _Helios Delta System_ and as such had been able to help with the evacuation of civilians. Because of the size of their ship the CO had made the decision to evacuate both of the major hospitals on _Aerilon_ which, out of the three inhabited planets in the system, had been hit the worst.

As such in the weeks following the attacks and subsequent formation of the Colonial Fleet they had transformed the cruise ship into a hospital using the equipment they had brought aboard along with the patients, nurse and doctors. Not to mention the supplies; the storage hold was fit to bursting with everything that could be taken from the hospitals by those who were sent down to assist in the evacuation. Each runabout had been equipped with a first aid kit and, on a normal day, she and Jace would take medics out to emergencies on other civilian vessels in the fleet. All of this had been reported to the _Galactica_ but they’d never heard anything back, just as most people never received a response when they contacted the lone military ship of the Fleet. Civilian matters were none of their concern, apparently.

Jace was a truly remarkable pilot, able to make the runabout do pretty much anything he wanted which at times was quite frightening. Now, with the relative danger of their new assignment, Alina was glad that she had impressed him enough to be chosen to fly with him.

“All call,” he ordered, waiting for her to flip the relevant switch to put him in contact with everyone else on the same frequency as them. _“Calling all dradis capable smaller vessels. Thank you for answering the call. I am Jace, lead pilot from the Talthybius. I need everyone to form a circle around the Fleet and fly away from it until they are on the very edge of your dradis screens. Our job is to watch the other half to screens, effectively extending the dradis range of the Fleet, and to report back should we make contact with anything unexpected.”_

She’d had this briefing already along with everyone else but that did nothing to stop the heavy weight pooling in her stomach when she heard what was expected of them again.

 _“I don’t want radio silence but please keep communications to a minimum in case of emergencies,”_ Jace pressed on, his words oddly formal. Normally his speech was littered with slang terminology or, worse, curse words. It didn’t reassure her to witness him acting so professional; far from it, in fact. “ _Alright. Good luck to all of you. Let’s get out there.”_

Turning her attention to the dradis screen on her instrument panels Alina watched the dots that represented the ships of the Fleet grow further and further away until they were at the very edge of the scanner, at which point she signalled for Jace to bring their craft to a halt.

“And now we wait…” Jace sighed as he switched on the runabouts limited autopilot, setting it so that it would keep them from drifting from their spot. “Should have brought a book.”

Alina couldn’t help but giggle softly in response to Jace’s muttered comment.

“I think there’s some cards in the back somewhere,” she announced, glad to pretend that nothing was out of the ordinary if only for a little while. “We could play a game of Triad?”

“A good girl like you shouldn’t know how to play Triad,” Jace snorted even as he nodded, gesturing for her to fetch the cards. Her belt buckle played up, as per usual, and in the end Jace had to reach over to release her so that she could grab the cards from the overhead locker towards the back of the craft. Settling back into her seat she tipped them out of the packet and, offering him a smirk, expertly shuffled the hexagon cards. “Now hang on…”

“I may be a good girl from _Picon_ but before volunteering to become your co-pilot come navigator I was part of the entertainments crew on board the _Talthybius_ and, trust me, you would not believe some of the things we used to get up to during our down time,” she explained cheekily, dealing out the cards on top of the instrument panels. “Are we playing for credits or something else? We used to bet shifts and duties we didn’t want to do.”

“Sounds good to me,” Jace muttered, checking his two cards. “Cleaning out the runabout.”

Alina checked her own cards; a red – five and a green – five.

“Sure,” she agreed. “I’ll take that bet.”

That said she dealt out the three “community cards” onto the instrument panel and was grateful of all her training as an actress when she saw the cards she needed on display.

A black – five and a blue – five.

 _Four Up_ , she thought to herself. He’d need a Half or Full Colours to beat her.

They went through the motions and then it was time to reveal their hands…

“Two Pair.”

Alina allowed her smile to appear upon hearing his announcement.

“Four Up,” she all but sang, laying down her cards. “Sorry, Jace.”

She didn’t sound the slightest bit sorry.

They played for almost an hour, their bets remaining pretty simple, and were playing for a weeks laundry duty when the dradis gave an ominous beep to signal it had made contact with something. Cards abandoned Alina’s hands flew over the controls, analysing the signal.

“Well?”

The words stuck in her throat for a long moment before she was able to force them out,

“Cylon scout ship.”

“… _frak_ …”

**~ * ~**


	4. JACE

**CHAPTER FOUR – JACE**

Jace stared at the dot rapidly approaching them on the screen for a long moment, his heart thumping in his chest, before his Colonial Fleet training kicked in, spurring him into action.

“Hail the _Tally_!” he all but barked, brushing the Triad cards out of the way so that he could disengage the autopilot and take control of the runabout. Alina gave him a thumbs up a moment later. “ _Tally_ , this is _Runabout One_. Contact. I repeat; Contact. Cylon scout ship approaching the Fleet from my position. Advise recall of patrol ships so Fleet can jump.”

A moment later Rigel’s voice crackled through the radio with the worst possible news,

“Negative, _Runabout One. Talthybius_ is without FTL capabilities. Working to resolve. Out.”

“ _Frak_!”

They’d have to jump the Fleet without the _Tally_.

It was their only option, the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few.

Unless...

“ _Tally_ , permission to try and take the bastard out.”

Alina all but spun in her chair to face him, her eyes impossibly wide with shock.

Understandable, really, as such an action had never been discussed.

“Permission denied, _Runabout One_ ; you are without weapons.”

He knew that.

He did.

But he couldn’t just do nothing!

“I say again, permission to try and take the bastard out. Weapon situation understood.”

“Jace,” Alina gasped, her face draining of its colour. “Are you _crazy_?”

“Yup,” he responded shortly. “Haven’t I ever told you what my call sign was in the Colonial Fleet? _Crazy Bastard_ or _CB_ for short. _Tally_ , let me at least try! We’re dead anyway if I don’t!”

A long moment passed with only static coming through the radio.

“Kol, _please!_ You can’t expect me to do nothing and let the Cylons _kill_ all of you!”

Another long pause and then,

“Permission granted.”

_“Thank you.”_

His guttural response had barely passed his lips before his hand flew to the throttle, applying pressure to send the runabout hurtling towards the approaching Cylon ship.

Alina let out a frightened whimper beside him.

“…what are you going to do?”

His eyes scanned the space before them, taking in the lack of anything useful…

Until his eyes fell upon the star dominating the right-hand side of the window.

All at once a terrible idea popped into his mind, one that couldn’t possibly work…

But if it did…if it did then there was a chance for them all…

“Alina, I need you to scan that star over there and find me a nice and reliable solar flare so that I can ram it down that Cylons throat,” Jace announced his plan, ignoring the terrified whimper that escaped his young co-pilot even as she began fiddling with the instrument panel. Finally, just when the Cylon craft came into sight through the window, she found a solar flare that had erupted once every twenty seconds since she’d begun scanning the star. “Good. Now, plot me a course to that solar flare while I get that bastards attention, okay?”

“O-Okay…”

As with most of his plans over the years, particularly the ones that people talked about for weeks afterwards, he began to regret coming up with it the moment he put it into action.

However, with an angry Cylon obediently chasing after them, there wasn’t time to focus on his poor decision making as he had to keep twisting and turning the runabout in order to avoid the bullets that the Cylon kept firing at them whilst all the while trying to follow the route that Alina had obediently plotted. The closer they got to the star the hotter the ship became, alarms beginning to blare as they warned of the dangers of the rising temperature.

“I know it’s getting hot in here!” he eventually screamed at one of the loudest alarms whilst executing a near-perfect barrel role. “Trust me; I can feel it! _Gods_! Can you turn them off?”

Blissful silence, broken only by their heavy breathing, the sounds of the engine over-revving and the clang of the Cylons bullets clipping them, fell moments later for which was grateful.

Unfortunately a new and even more annoying alarm took their place.

“Radiation levels reaching dangerous levels,” Alina reported hollowly. “Jace…”

“I’m sorry but it’s this or let them destroy the _Tally_ and maybe the rest of the Fleet.”

Nodding Alina reached out to silence the radiation alarm as well.

He knew he couldn’t take the ship too low.

It wouldn’t survive, simple as that.

To be honest it was a Alinacle that the shielding was holding up so well…

“Ow!” Alina hissed suddenly, jerking her hand back. One the back of it was what looked like a blob of molten metal, burning through her skin. A glance up confirmed that the framework above their heads was literally starting to melt. Another drip landed on Jace’s thigh. “Jace…”

“I know,” he muttered, desperately trying to ignore the pain. “Just a little longer…”

According the computer the solar flare he was aiming for was just up ahead.

A clang sounded just as the runabout shuddered alarmingly.

“What was that?!”

“That would be a bullet,” Jace muttered, placing both hands on the joystick as the craft became noticeably more difficult to control. Another clang, this one louder, and one an engine flared out leaving them with half the power they needed. “Come on, sweetheart…”

His legs were burning, seemingly from the inside out, but he ignored it.

Just as he ignored the molten droplets of metal raining down on him.

He had to do this…

He had to make it…

This had to work…

Up ahead of them their target exploded dramatically, flames so bright that his eyes stung from looking at it bursting out of the stars core. A sharp turn confirmed that the Cylon was still well and truly on their tail, a bullet shooting past the window so close it made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck, and so it was time to put his ridiculous plan into action.

“Twenty. Nineteen. Eighteen. Seventeen.”

He banked the other way, drawing the Cylon closer to the currently empty space.

“Sixteen. Fifteen.”

Something inside his leg shifted, one of the melted pins holding his bones together shearing off under the strain, and he couldn’t hold back a startled cry of pain. Alina turned to him, her eyes wide with panic but he shrugged off her concern; he needed to concentrate on the job.

“Fourteen. Thirteen. Twelve. Eleven. Ten. Nine.”

His legs had been shattered when someone had sabotaged his Raptor after his relationship with Kol had been discovered and made public, the individual responsible unwilling to wait for him to be cashiered out of the service for “conduct unbecoming an officer.” It had done Jace a favour actually, as he’d been given a medical discharge instead so that the Colonial Fleet could sweep the incident under the rug. His attacker hadn’t even received a note in his file about his dangerous actions. Had he not been as good a pilot as he was he would have been killed in the crash and, not only that, his innocent RIO would have been killed as well.

As it was the young Lieutenant had suffered a broken arm and a nasty concussion.

“Eight. Seven.”

Kol, who had been preparing to go before the promotions board in order to receive his first command, had been court-martialled and, after being found guilty of being in a relationship with another man, had received a dishonourable discharge. Being flit, as it was known, was against the regulations of the Colonial Fleet despite years of protests regarding the subject.

“Six. Five. Four.”

Inhaling sharply Jace turned the runabout on a direct course for the building solar flare.

“Three.”

Alina began to pray loudly, her eyes clenched shut.

“Two.”

Jace pushed the remaining engine as hard as he could, knowing that there was a pretty good chance that the solar flare could take out both of them rather than just the Cylon scout ship.

“One.”

**~ * ~**


	5. KOL

**CHAPTER FIVE – KOL**

“ _Tally_ , this is _Runabout One_.”

As one every member of the bridge crew stopped what they were doing, several of them surreptitiously glancing towards Kol as they recognised the crackling voice as his husband.

“Contact,” Jace announced, his words cutting through the static. “I repeat; Contact.”

Kol closed his eyes so as to hide the worry that seared through him.

“Cylon scout ship approaching the _Fleet_ from my position.”

Someone, one of the young girls who ran messages throughout the ship, let out a whimper.

The ships internal communications system had been on the blink for years, so much so that a request for a new system had been included in every report they’d sent in the six months prior to the attacks on the colonies. As such they had got into the habit of keeping runners on hand to take important messages should the system go down. Initially these had been junior members of the ship’s crew but now, with every crew member needed to keep the ship running, this particular job was mostly done by some of the ships younger passengers.

“Advise recall of patrol ships so _Fleet_ can jump.”

Kol grimaced, thinking of the message another one of their runners had brought only a couple of minutes earlier from their engineers. It couldn’t have arrived at a worse time.

“Sir?” Rigel called out. “What response should I give?”

Grimacing visibly Danny turned to the young woman,

“We can’t jump the _Fleet_ yet as our FTL drive is down. Maintenance ongoing.”

Theoretically they could jump the _Fleet_ , Kol surmised, it would just be without the _Tally_.

If their repairs were unsuccessful they would be forced to stay behind to face the Cylons unarmed and alone, just as those ships without FTL engines had been left behind before.

“Negative, _Runabout One. Talthybius_ is without FTL capabilities. Working to resolve. Out.”

“ _Frak_!”

As a rule Kol didn’t like to hover behind people when they were working but in that moment he couldn’t stop himself from crossing the bridge to stand directly behind Rigel at her desk.

“ _Tally_ , permission to try and take the bastard out.”

“No,” Kol gasped, his professionalism dropping as fear for his husband tore through him. “No, absolutely not. He’s not in a _Raptor_. They’ve got no way of defending themselves.”

Nodding her head in agreement Rigel reported his answer to _Runabout One_ ,

“Permission denied, _Runabout One_ ; you are without weapons.”

Rigel, a former Colonial Fleet officer herself, remained perfectly calm under pressure.

It was something that Kol had always admired.

Jace’s voice, on the other hand, was growing sharper with frustration by the minute,

“I say again, permission to try and take the bastard out. Weapon situation understood.”

_Weapon situation understood._

Gods, such a polite way of saying that he knew he was volunteering for a suicide mission.

Kol felt sick.

Of course Jace would want to try and give them the best chance of survival, to give _him_ the best chance of survival, by taking out the Cylon before it could summon reinforcements.

Or trying to, at least, because Kol couldn’t fathom how such a thing would be possible.

“Kol, _please!”_

He could feel the pitying looks of his colleagues as his husband pleaded with him. 

“You can’t expect me to do nothing and let the Cylons _kill_ all of you!”

No.

No, Jace would never give up so easily.

And if anyone could pull off such an impossible task it was his husband.

Finally, with everyone’s gaze firmly fixed upon him, he nodded.

“Permission granted.”

_“Thank you.”_

His eyes were drawn to the dradis screen, watching as one of the small dots around the edge of the circular screen moved further away from the _Fleet_ until between one breath and the next it disappeared from the screen altogether. At the same time the radio, which had been broadcasting the muffled voices of Jace and his co-pilot, was reduced to static.

His husband’s runabout was now out of sight and out of touch so all they could do was wait.

And wait.

And _wait_.

Kol found himself barely breathing as he stood gazing down at the dradis screen, waiting to see what would appear on the round screen, body still held in the position of parade rest.

Someone began to pray, others joining in a beat later.

As far as he could tell there were three possible outcomes to their situation;

Jace would fail in his attempt, the Cylons would arrive and the Fleet would be forced to leave the Talthybius behind. They would be killed, no doubt, with a nuclear warhead.

Quick and efficient but by no means painless.

Jace would succeed in destroying the Cylon but would be killed during the attempt.

If that were the case nothing would appear on the screen.

Kol knew his heart would break if either of those eventualities came to pass.

Lastly there was the outcome that he himself was silently praying for; that Jace would somehow be successful in such a way that his husband would return to them safely. He hoped that if this scenario came to pass it would conclude with the _Galactica’s_ return.

Gods, hoped everything was going to work out alright.

He didn’t think he’d survive losing his husband on top of everything else.

Jace was his reason for living, his reason for fighting.

Time slowed, the minutes dragging and with each one that passed it got harder to breathe.

And then, suddenly, there was a crackle over the radio.

Kol froze, his hands clenching behind his back so hard that his knuckles cracked loudly.

Another crackle followed and then,

“… _Tal_ …ru…ab…one…”

“Jace,” he gasped, his body going limp as though her were a puppet whose strings had been cut. Only the fact that he grabbed the back of Rigel’s chair saved him from collapsing. “He…”

“…Cylon…out shi…stroy…” Jace’s broken voice continued, becoming clearer and clearer. And then, much to his and everyone’s relief, a dot appeared at the edge of the dradis screen. “I repeat…lon scou…ip destroyed. Down to one…gine. Request permi…on to return to _Tally_.”

“Permission granted, _Runabout One_ ,” Rigel returned a fraction quicker than she probably should have, Danny and Kol only just giving the nod before she spoke. “Are you injured?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, Gods…” Kol couldn’t stop himself from gasping. “How bad?”

“How badly, Runabout One?”

“Nothing immediately life-threatening,” Jace responded, his voice now perfectly clear as the small dot on the screen moved steadily towards them. “A couple of nasty burns each. Did you guys know that metal melts when it gets hot? And on that note my legs are not good.”

_His legs._

Kol felt sick.

“Not gonna lie I could do with some morphia right about now…”

“A medical team will be waiting for you when you land.”

A grunt was the only response his husband gave for a long moment.

“Kol?”

As soon as Kol extended his hand Rigel placed her headset in it, the cable ending up draped across her body as he hurriedly brought it up to his ear so that he could talk to his husband.

“Jace?”

“…next time someone else can take the crazy suicide mission to save the _Fleet_ , okay?”

Kol couldn’t hold back a fond smile.

“Sounds good to me,” he sighed warmly. “Now, hurry up and get back to the _Talthybius_.”

“I’m on my way.”

**~ * ~**


	6. ALINA

**CHAPTER SIX – ALINA**

Now that the immediate danger had passed the pain from the burns she had suffered flared up to such a level that tears sprung to her eyes. Getting up from her seat she sought out one of the first aid kits in the back of the runabout, retrieving the sterile water and a handful of specialised burn dressings she returned to her seat. A quick catalogue of her injuries found that there were four burns which required immediate attention; the one on the back of her hand, a rather large one on her thigh which had gone through both her flight-suit and the black leggings she wore underneath, one on her left forearm and one on her forehead which disappeared into her hairline. A gentle tug resulted in some of her hair breaking away from the rest an inch from the roots, the long black ringlets burned through by the molten metal.

Working quickly she flushed out the wounds as best as she could and applied the dressings.

The dozens of smaller burns she left for the moment, instead turning in her seat to assess the condition of her pilot and friend. He had suffered almost as many burns as she had, his all along his right side whilst hers were along her left; the metal that had melted had been over the centre of the cockpit so the sides of their bodies closest to the walls of the craft had been spared the worst of it. Like her injuries some of his could be left alone for now whilst others required immediate attention; one that almost covered his entire shoulder, one that had missed his nipple by a couple of centimetres, one on his thigh which she noticed was almost identical to the one on hers and then, worst of all, one on his face that began at his hairline and ended at his jawline. It was a miracle it hadn’t taken out his eye.

As she was working on the facial burns she noticed that his eyes were worryingly red.

“Jace?” she enquired softly. “Is there something wrong with your eyes?”

“Now that you mention it everything is a little bit blurry,” Jace confessed, his words slurring together in such a way that Alina froze. “Think I might’ve stared at the star too closely…”

“Well, you were flying into it,” she murmured, forcing herself to finish dressing the burns before returning to her seat and taking another look at him. His hands were shaking so badly, she realised, that he was having trouble holding onto the controls. “Jace, you okay?”

“…no, I don’t think I am…”

No sooner had his answer come did his hands go slack, his eyes rolling back into his head as he lost consciousness. She moved quickly, flipping the switch to transfer control of the ship to her side of the cockpit just as they began to list worryingly to one side. Taking hold of the joystick in front of her she corrected their course, ensuring that they were headed towards the _Talthybius_ at the best possible speed their damaged runabout could manage before she turned her attention back on her friend. Jace was unconscious, slumped listlessly in his seat.

Reaching out she opened up a transmission to the Fleet.

“ _Talthybius,_ this is _Runabout One_. Medical emergency. Jace has fallen unconscious.”

“Understood, _Runabout One_. Is he having trouble breathing?”

“No,” she answered, reaching out with a hand to feel her friends chest moving. “No, he’s breathing normally. I think...I think it’s the pain from his legs that’s made him pass out…”

“Okay, _Runabout One_ , we’ve alerted the emergency medical team awaiting your arrival of the rapid deterioration of Jace’s condition,” the voice on the other end of the transmission announced deceptively calmly. Alina knew how close Jace was to most of the bridge crew due to the fact that his husband, his _better half_ as he always referred to the older man, was the ships XO. She couldn’t imagine being in their shoes. “What’s your ETA, _Runabout One_?”

“Five minutes,” she relayed the information from the screen in front of her. As she did so a sudden thought flashed through her mind. “ _Tally_? I…I’ve never done a solo landing before.”

“…Alina, its Kol,” a new, familiar voice came on the other end of the line. “Jace’s husband.”

“H-Hey,” she mumbled nervously. “I’m sorry but I don’t know if I can do this…”

An ache began to spread through her lungs, each breath becoming a challenge in her panic.

Kol sighed audibly, frustration mixed with determination.

“Alina,” he spoke at length. “My husband chose you to be his co-pilot because he knew he could rely upon you in a situation such as this. He knew that you would be able to do this.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, whimpering as it seized in her chest even as she offered up,

“I thought he just liked the fact that I talked back to him…”

A deep chuckle filled the air waves.

“That too,” Kol confessed, his voice still rumbling with mirth. “You were the only one of the volunteers who didn’t fawn over him. You were the only one who told him off for showing off when there was no need to. You were also the only one willing to try to do a roll the first time you took control of the _Runabout_. He trusts you, Alina, and so do I. You can do this.”

Her eyes flickered across to her friend’s slack expression.

“You can do this.”

“I can do this,” she mumbled, mostly to herself as she released her hold on Jace’s chest so that she could focus on the task ahead. “I can do this. I can land this _Runabout_ on my own.”

“Of course you can,” Kol agreed without hesitation. “I’ll see you soon; _both_ of you.”

Repeating assurances to herself over and over Alina followed the flight path she herself had come up with until the familiar sight of the _Talthybius’_ hangar. Her hands were shaking as she reduced the vessels speed whilst lining the tip of the ship up with the line on the deck, using it as she had been taught to guide her into the centre of the large opening. It wasn’t until a scraping sound emanated from above her than she remembered that she needed to lower the ship down as well, dropping them down a couple of feet whilst reducing their speed even more. The target landing zone was in sight, the red circle painted on the deck, and she switched from the main engines to the thrusters. Something thudded loudly as she clipped it with the tip of one of the wings but other than that she was able to manoeuvre the ship into the centre of the circle and, with only a moment’s hesitation, cut the engines.

The ship plummeted a couple of feet, hitting the deck with an almighty crash.

“Whoops,” she giggled nervously. “I thought I was closer to the deck…”

“You did fine, rookie,” Jace grunted weakly from beside her, prompting her to let out a shriek as she hadn’t realised he’d regained consciousness. “Still need a bit of practice…”

By the time the air pressure had been returned to the flight deck and the ground crew had managed to force the door open, the hinges and locks having been damaged, the two of them were crying with laughter and relief as they clutched at each other’s injured hands.

Neither of them could believe it had worked.

**~ * ~**


End file.
